Has it's moments

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2003)

It's a film I've wanted to see for a long time - and last week I finally bought the DVD.
The opening half hour really grabs you - petrol bombs in faces, bulging bloodshot eyes, staggering horrors and a desolate cityscape.
From then on, they have a plot and a story and things, with plenty of dialogue, character development and eventually they explore good ideas based around the initial premise of this chilling end-of-the-world scenario.

But it doesn't have buckets of gore and tons of mindless violence - which is the reason I wanted to see it in the first place.
Apart from being erroneously acclaimed as a Zombie film, it's more your kind of "survival in the face of apocalyptic adversity" type of affair - with the "infected" being humans imbued with terrible uncontrollable rage replacing yer actual "walking dead."
There are a few moments of gore and violence - and by and large they are done with style. There are also a few moments of excellent suspense, delivering genuinely hair-raising thrills.
Basically, I mean to say that it is a cut above the typical horror fare that is served to the brain dead masses, and it delivers a fairly satisfying couple of hours entertainment.
It has emotional impact too - again something that your average horror movie lacks - and screen time is spent developing ideas rather than wringing scene upon scene out of a single concept.
28 Days later - with it's digital video look, is very reminiscent of British TV's scifi of the 70's and early 80's - THE SURVIVORS - QUATERMASS - DAY OFTHE TRIFFIDS (not the dire movie) - possessing a sinister sense of low-budget menace, clipped diction and impending doom.
But it strikes me that 28 days is a bit of a quick turnaround to lose the entire UK - and not have anyone with a radio to pick up foreign broadcasts or satellite TV.....
Ah well - a thought provoking, genuinely horrible at times, movie, but not in the same league as Romero's mighty Zombie trilogy.
Initial thoughts 6/10

ahhh what the hell, ambitious UK films deserve a lot more support than big budget Hollywood garbage that's floating around at the moment -

7/10 for effort.